BILL NUMBER: AJR 53	CHAPTERED  05/26/00

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER   70
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   MAY 26, 2000
	ADOPTED IN SENATE   MAY 25, 2000
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 15, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 15, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Jackson, Scott, and Villaraigosa
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Alquist, Aroner, Bock, Calderon,
Cardenas, Cedillo, Corbett, Davis, Dutra, Firebaugh, Gallegos,
Havice, Hertzberg, Honda, Keeley, Knox, Kuehl, Lempert, Longville,
Lowenthal, Mazzoni, Migden, Nakano, Papan, Romero, Shelley,
Steinberg, Strom-Martin, Thomson, Torlakson, Vincent, Washington,
Wayne, Wesson, and Wildman)

                        MARCH 27, 2000

   Assembly Joint Resolution No. 53--Relative to gun control.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 53, Jackson.  Gun control.
   This measure would respectfully memorialize the Congress and the
President of the United States to enact commonsense gun legislation
including laws that will limit handgun purchases, require background
checks, reinstate a specified waiting period, require child safety
locks, and ban specified weapons.  This bill would also direct the
Chief Clerk of the Assembly to transmit copies of this resolution to
the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, and to each Senator and
Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.




   WHEREAS, The illegal and violent use of firearms victimizes more
than one million Americans every year, and although recent crime
statistics show the rate of violent crime dropping, the rate of
criminal use of firearms remains high; and
   WHEREAS, According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, over 4,200 children died from gunfire in the United
States in 1997, including homicides, suicides, and accidental
shootings, which is nearly 13 per day and almost 600 annually in
California alone, and for every child that is killed in the United
States with a gun, four are wounded with a gun; and
   WHEREAS, American children are at a higher risk from firearms than
children of any other industrialized nation in the world, with the
rate of firearm death of children under 14 years old being nearly 12
times higher in the United States than in 25 other industrialized
nations combined; and
   WHEREAS, According to the New England Journal of Medicine, guns
kept in the home for protection are 43 times more likely to kill a
family member or a friend than to kill an intruder, and the presence
of a gun in the home triples the risk of a homicide in the home; and
   WHEREAS, Many gun owners store firearms in a bedroom or closet,
versus in a locked case, cabinet, or vault; and
   WHEREAS, According to the Journal of the American Medical
Association, more than 1.2 million elementary schoolaged children
have access to guns in their homes; and
   WHEREAS, According to the National Safety Council, gun accidents
are the fifth leading cause of accidental death for children aged 14
and under; and
   WHEREAS, Even though firearms are designed to cause death and
injury, they are completely exempt from national consumer protection
regulations that protect children from poorly made toys, products,
and common household items, and, therefore, can cause injury or death
if handled improperly; and
   WHEREAS, Injuries caused by firearms are costly to treat,
averaging over $13,000 per patient, which drains public healthcare
dollars; and
   WHEREAS, In the last three years there have been several tragic
shootings in schools and day care centers that have injured or killed
innocent children; and
   WHEREAS, Many accidental shootings and gun-related homicides and
suicides are caused by firearms improperly or illegally handled by
minors; and
   WHEREAS, The criminal use of guns and related gun violence has
become a public health matter of epidemic proportions, causing
children and families across the country to endure the loss of loved
ones to gun violence, to get caught in the crossfire of
firearm-related domestic violence, and to live in fear of being
struck by random bullets; and
   WHEREAS, This year, President Bill Clinton announced increased
funding and landmark regulatory and executive actions to bolster
enforcement efforts and crack down on problem gun dealers in order to
halt illegal firearm trafficking and prevent firearms from getting
into the hands of criminals; and
   WHEREAS, The Million Mom March, an extraordinary, nationwide
grass-roots mobilization to march in Washington, D.C. on Mother's Day
2000 to demand Congress to pass commonsense gun laws by Mother's
Day, is being led primarily by mothers from all walks of life moved
to action by insidious gun violence against children; and
   WHEREAS, The Million Mom March will also be taking place in small
and large cities across America to call attention to the senseless
loss of life from gun violence and to demand that policymakers at all
levels act immediately to pass sensible guns laws to protect
citizens, particularly children, from gun violence; and
   WHEREAS, The California Legislature recently passed and Governor
Gray Davis signed commonsense gun measures, including laws requiring
most handguns to meet basic safety requirements, restricting "copycat"
assault weapons, prohibiting large capacity ammunition magazines,
requiring firearms to be accompanied by an approved safety device and
a warning, restricting handgun purchases to one per month, and
improving security at gun shows, thereby putting California at the
forefront of efforts to protect citizens from gun violence; and
   WHEREAS, Despite alarming statistics and growing public concern
about gun violence, the 106th Congress failed in its first year to
successfully pass commonsense gun legislation that would have
provided American citizens with additional protections from gun
violence; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and Senate of the State of California,
jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California hereby
respectfully memorializes the Congress and the President of the
United States to enact commonsense gun legislation this session
including laws that would (1) limit handgun purchases to one per
person per month to reduce gun trafficking; (2) require background
checks for all firearms purchased from licensed dealers and at gun
shows; (3) reinstate a three-day waiting period for firearm purchases
to ensure a cooling-off period and allow time for a background
check; (4) require the sale of child safety locks with every handgun
sold; and (5) ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines that do
not have any legitimate sporting or hunting purpose; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to each
Senator and Representative from California to the Congress of the
United States.
